Golden Oak Adult School23201 Dalbey Drive, Santa Clarita, CA 91321, Ph: 661-253-0583 (No Longer Available) High School Diploma classes are available, but Golden Oak Adult School stopped offering GED (or other high school equivalency) prep classes and testing. You need to contact College of the Canyons for further information (661-362-3304).

HiSET and TASC alternatives

The HiSET and TASC exams are also available in paper format, whereas the GED exam is only offered on a computer. The GED (General Education Development) tests, as well as the other two alternatives, are developed especially for adults who don’t have a high school diploma and these programs are offering them one more opportunity to obtain a diploma that compares to a standard high school diploma. The TASC and HiSET exams have five tests: science, social studies, writing, reading, and math.

The GED credential

The certificate that you will be handed out after you successfully complete the California High School Equivalency (HSE) test, is all over the country accepted as being equivalent to a normal high school diploma. The GED (General Education Development) test examines fundamental subject areas that students learn in high school, and subjects addressed in the examination and in GED preparation programs include math, science, literacy or language arts (writing and reading), and social studies.

Test centers can decide which of the three testing programs they will apply, so check with the test center near you. The TASC and HiSET programs still offer the test in a paper-formatted version and present the language section in two parts, reading, and writing.

GED passing score

The GED exam has a new way of scoring. You can get a maximum amount of 200 points (the scale goes from 100 to 200) on each subject field and the passing score was 150 until early 2016 when it was lowered to 145.

On the TASC exam, you must attain a score of at least 500 points (out of 800) on each of the 5 tests, and your essay result must be at least two points (out of 8 points). The minimally required HiSET score is 8 points on each sub-test (out of 20), the essay score must be no less than 2 (out of 6), and the total result you reach must be in the 45-100 range.

The GED exam – what’s new

The GED program was created in the 1940’s to help returning WW II veterans (who often had gone to war before finishing high school) get an equivalent degree to a high school diploma. This way they were eligible for decent employment and continuation of their academic education. Since the program’s inception, over 18 million Americans have passed the GED examination. Before January 2014, the GED exam was last updated in 2002, and the now current 2014 GED exam had the biggest overhaul since the program was initially introduced some 70 years ago.

The latest changes have aligned the GED exam with modern business, government, and education standards and practices, and also with Common Core State Standards, that are implemented by most states for grades K 12 schools. The new GED exam is also more rigorous and challenging than the former series.

The new version of the GED exam is entirely done on a computer, and the price was raised as well. Students who had not completed all tests by the end of 2013, lost all their previous scores and had to start from scratch, although some states have passed (or in the process of making) legislation to alter this policy. Now the GED exam includes four tests on the subject matters of literacy, math, science, and social studies.

Online testing?

Testing via the internet is NOT possible, and this applies to all three exams (GED/TASC/HiSET). Testing has to be done at an official site, and websites that tell a different thing are fraudulent. Their ‘certificates’ have no value at all and are not accepted by employers or educational institutions.

GED advantages

Holding the GED diploma allows many millions of persons the opportunity to demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills at the level of high school graduates and on a yearly basis, more than 800,000 individuals take the GED exam, and more than 70 percent is successful and earn their HSE (High School Equivalency) diploma. The GED credential allows individuals to boost their academic achievement and increase their income.

Most employers are not hiring applicants who don’t have a secondary education degree (high school diploma or equivalent) so the best reward of earning the GED diploma is steady employment. The GED diploma guarantees employers that applicants have a level of competency and knowledge that compares to high school seniors, and the diploma is also good for older individuals as it makes them eligible for job promotion and/or better paying and more secure positions. Recent studies show that about half of all GED holders indicate that acquiring the GED credential had a positive influence on their employment circumstances.

Earning the GED diploma is frequently the stepping stone toward higher education and better earnings. The credential is welcomed and accepted at practically all American colleges, and GED holders may also apply to every vocational or technical school and other post-secondary educational institutions.

The GED diploma also allows for enlisting in nearly all branches of the armed forces, although sometimes they are required to pass additional tests to demonstrate further skills before they will be accepted. GED graduates are expected to earn some $9,800 per year more than their counterparts who don’t hold a secondary degree.